The brothers accused of holding three women captive for a decade or more grew up around their father's car lot off West 25th Street surrounded by a large family. They were smart, funny and loved classic cars.

Two, however, appeared to drink heavily, while the other battered his former wife and threatened to kill her and their children, according to friends, family and court records. Two brothers had long since stopped working, while the other was fired in November after 22 years as a Cleveland schools bus driver.

"They used to be beautiful people," said Julio "Cesi" Castro, the men's uncle.

A day after authorities arrested Ariel, Onil and Pedro Castro in the kidnappings of Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry, a troubling portrait is emerging of the men. The men, reared in a strict family, have been accused in one of the most heinous crimes in the city's history.

The three women had been in a home owned by Ariel Castro, 52, on Seymour Avenue. Police arrested him Monday night. Hours later, officers waited in unmarked cars outside a home on Kinkel Avenue, where other brotherslived. When Onil and Pedro Castro drove up, officers arrested them, neighbors said.

"They were all good kids," said Nelson Roman, a lifelong friend of the brothers. "That's why this news is devastating. It's not only horrifying to the families of the kidnapped girls, it's devastating to us, because these brothers were all very good kids who grew up in a very good family. I was shocked to see their pictures on television involved in kidnapping. We've stayed friends over the years and had no idea they were keeping girls hostage."

Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said he thinks the three women were tied up and held at the home on Seymour Avenue since they were in their teens or early 20s. A 6-year-old also was found in the home, and Cleveland police deputy chief Ed Tomba said Tuesday that the girl is Berry's daughter.

McGrath and other city officials discussed the case at a morning press, but offered few details of the years-long ordeal.

Berry disappeared at age 16 on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from her job at a Burger King. DeJesus went missing at age 14 on her way home from school about a year later. They were found just a few miles from where they had gone missing. Knight was 21 when she disappeared in 2002.

Safety Director Martin Flask said police got call at 5:52 from Berry and that police arrived just more than two minutes later. At 5:58 p.m., police realized they had located Berry and DeJesus. Moments later they also had Knight.

The women appeared to be in good health and were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center to be evaluated and reunited with relatives. They were released from the hospital on Tuesday morning.

Theresa Miller is the sister of Amanda Berry's mother, Louwana, who died in 2006. Theresa Miller said the person responsible for Amanda's disappearance should be charged with murder for Louwana's death.

"She died of a broken heart," said Miller, who lives on the West Side. "After all the stress, she would say, 'I can't eat. I don't know if Mandy ate.' My sister was a very strong person, but it took a lot out of her."

She said she has spoken to Amanda but declined to discuss details of her ordeal.

"It's a miracle," she said. "But I just wish her mother could be here."

As the investigation plays out, authorities continue to focus on the brothers.

Roman said Pedro Castro, 54, was a straight-A student at old Lincoln High School. Roman said he would not have graduated from Lincoln High in 1976 without Pedro's help. But Pedro dropped out of school in his junior year when he became involved with alcohol. Roman said Pedro had worked a punch-press machine in a factory, but he stopped working because he drank so heavily. He was getting Social Security benefits in recent years.

Roman said Onil Castro, 50, was much quieter than his brother Pedro. He also drank heavily. Roman said he has been receiving workers' compensation the past five years. He had made his living doing odd jobs; he was very versatile and a handyman until he got hurt working as a laborer.

Neither was married, Roman said.

Court records indicate Ariel Castro fought with his former wife, Grimilda Figueroa, over the custody of their children. Figueroa twice suffered a broken nose, as well as broken ribs, a knocked-out tooth, a blood clot on the brain and two dislocated shoulders, according to a 2005 filing in Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court. In the filing, her attorney requested that a judge "keep [Castro] from threatening to kill [Figueroa]."

Attorney Robert Ferreri said Figueroa "has full custody with no visitation for [Castro]. Nevertheless, [Castro] frequently abducts daughters and keeps them from their mother." Figueroa died last year. Ferreri could not be reached. Any record of charges being filed could not be located.

Ivan Ruiz played in the Latin band Grupo Kanon with Ariel Castro. He found it odd that Castro would never let anyone into his home, even to help carry musical equipment.

"He wouldn't let me pull up the driveway. Said there were nails or something," Ruiz said. "One time I asked, 'Do you want me to help you carry this stuff inside? It's heavy.'

"He said, 'Nah, I got it, man.' "

Equally, strange, he said, was Castro's reluctance to stay anywhere overnight. The band would book hotel rooms for trips in Cincinnati, Toledo and Pittsburgh.

"He was the only one who never stayed," Ruiz said. "He would say, 'I have to get home.' It was weird."

Police had been to the house twice, once in 2000, another time in 2004, officials said.

In March 2000, Ariel Castro reported to police there was a fight in the street. No reports of an arrest were made.

In January 2004, police went to the address after Castro, either intentionally or accidentally, left a child on a Cleveland school bus, but were unsuccessful in making contact with anyone in the home. An investigation found no criminal intent by Castro, Flask said.

In November, Ariel Castro was fired from his job as a Cleveland school bus driver for leaving his bus unattended for four hours last September while he went home. Before being fired Nov. 6, Castro had been suspended for 60 days twice -- for leaving the child on the bus and making an illegal U-turn in rush-hour traffic with a busload of students in 2009.

He also was suspended in February 2012 for using his bus to do grocery shopping. He had to sign an agreement saying any more problems would result in his termination.

In the September incident, Castro said his mid-day route was canceled, and he was tired. So he left the bus at Scranton Elementary School and walked to his home two blocks away "to rest," according to a form in his discipline file.

In 2004, a special education student at Wade Park Elementary School was left on Castro's bus after another student was dropped off, according to a Cleveland police report. The student said Castro drove to a Wendy's restaurant and told the student to "lay down b---" while he went inside to eat. He then took the student home.

Police went to the Seymour Avenue home to question Castro but no one came to the door. Castro was hired by the district in February 1991. He was earning $18.91 an hour when he was fired.

The brothers were from a family of nine siblings. Their father, Pedro, had a car lot off West 25th Street. He died in 2004. In his will, the nine children divided more than $250,000 in assets, and they were given cars, according to Cuyahoga County Probate Court records.

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